


Buckle Up For Safety

by Amahami



Series: All Around Us [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chronic Pain, Doctors & Physicians, Ed is dying, Gen, Illnesses, Implied/Referenced Torture, Needles, Sick Edward Elric, amestris's terribly named towns, ed does not die in this fic, plot holes reside here, trisha's illness was hereditary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25752838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amahami/pseuds/Amahami
Summary: Ed goes to see the doctor Teacher recommended. He hates doctors and he hates hospitals. Usually he at least has Al to help with his medical anxiety, but Al can't know about this, so he's on his own.Past torture is alluded to and Ed gets blood drawn; other trigger warnings in the a/n
Series: All Around Us [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858846
Comments: 8
Kudos: 147





	Buckle Up For Safety

**Author's Note:**

> I am no longer worrying about the canonical dates of plot stuff, only the plot itself. Because otherwise i'd only have a handful of weeks for everything I have planned, because supposedly the bulk of canon took place August to November of 1914. Then some of that November through to the end of March 1915 Ed and Al are separated working on Promised Day preparations.
> 
>  **Trigger warnings:** doctor visit, panic attacks including vision tunneling and temporary loss of hearing, needles, blood (it's a blood draw), references to torture in Ed's past, partial dissociation (not outright stated, but it is there), and being strapped down (it's nonsexual and completely by choice)
> 
> As always, thank you to my amazing alpha reader [Shilo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shilo1364/pseuds/shilo1364) for helping me take this piece from okay to great!

The doctor Teacher suggested was in the outskirts of Yoewap, which was, conveniently enough, right on the way to their next mission. Mustang had asked them to go to Erhejafnu to investigate a probable chimera terrorising the town.

"I'm not asking you to kill it or even capture it," Mustang had explained over the phone hastily, over Ed's outrage. "I just want you to check on it, figure out what it is, why it might be wreaking havoc, and maybe who created it, if you can."

Edward had accepted, because why not? And besides, he knew anyone else assigned the mission would just kill the poor thing.

Ed shuddered.

Instead of asking about it, Al simply rested a gauntlet on Ed's flesh knee. He appreciated the silent support as well as the grounding weight.

He took a couple deep breaths before looking at his brother. "Let's stop for the night in Yoewap. I'm exhausted," he said, letting his exhaustion colour his voice.

He wasn't quite  _ that _ tired, but he did need to see that doctor.

On their way to the hotel, Ed said, "Al, while I nap before dinner, could you go to the libraries in town and see if they have anything useful for us?"

Al nodded. "Of course, Brother. Will you be okay?"

Ed turned his head so his brother could see his smile. "Yeah, of course I will. Guess I didn't sleep as well as I thought I did last night."

Al hummed in acknowledgement before turning off the road towards the town centre while Ed turned the opposite direction towards the hotel.

Once he dropped his luggage off in the room, he took his red jacket off and undid his hair, allowing it to flow freely. 

Then he left through the window with the doctor's address in hand.

The address led him to the small town's idea of a hospital/clinic. He groaned in dismay and turned a glare towards the absurdly blue sky.

Then he walked in, because he trusted Teacher.

He sat down gingerly on the edge of a chair to fill some redundant forms out while the secretary got him into the schedule and informed the doctor.

The forms took ages and he tried to make his writing legible, but shit, he wasn't a leftie.

Finally, the name he gave, Edward Harnet, was called. He jumped up and walked to a man about his height with small shoulders and a somewhat large stomach, in a green shirt and black trousers, wearing a white coat.

"Mr. Harnet?" the doctor asked, jerking Ed out of his thoughts. He shook his head, tried to focus, and caught up to the doctor, standing beside a scale.

Ed grimaced. "Ah, uh, I have two automail limbs," he said, scratching the nape of his neck.

The man just nodded, shoulder-length brown hair swaying. "That's fine," he said, making a note on his clipboard.

Then he asked him to remove his shoes so he could measure his height. Ed clenched his jaw to avoid saying anything. He  _ needed _ to keep this doctor on his good side.

So he leaned against the wall and slid down it so he was sitting down, then untied his boots and removed them.

Getting back up was the hard part. As Ed looked around to try to determine the best leverage with which to get himself back to his feet, the doctor absentmindedly offered his hand.

"I have two automail limbs," Ed reminded the doctor before taking his hand. The doctor pulled him up with ease instead of replying, and Ed was quite impressed; the doctor didn't  _ look _ strong, but looks could be deceiving.

"Thanks," Ed said, standing against the wall with the height chart against it.

The doctor lowered a piece of metal until it rested against his head, squishing his antenna. The only reason he didn't sigh was because it would decrease his height.

"153 centimeters," the doctor announced. Ed grinned. That was three centimeters he'd grown!

"This way," the doctor said, leading the way to an examination room.

Ed pivoted on one hip to bend down without moving his back to grab his shoes, and followed the doctor without cataloguing his surroundings.

"My name is Harry Shoko," the doctor said, holding his hand out to shake.

Ed shook his hand gently with his right hand before sitting down on the exam table.

"First we're going to do a basic exam, then we're going to move on to the reason you're here. Does that sound okay?" Dr. Shoko asked as he set his clipboard down.

Ed nodded. "Just… Tell me what you're doing before you do it."

The doctor nodded and pulled out a blood pressure cuff. "I'm going to take your blood pressure. It might hurt your arm for a minute, but it'll help tell me about your wellbeing."

The doctor clearly didn't know who he was, or he wouldn't be explaining it like that, but he was using layman's terms in a way that wouldn't confuse even people who never got to go to school, without being patronising. It was nice.

He also waited until Ed nodded before wrapping the blood pressure cuff around his left arm, which was a relief, too.

Soon enough, his blood pressure had been taken - "a little high" - and the doctor had listened to his lungs. When he was taking deep breaths for the doctor, he frowned and scribbled something on his clipboard.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked after a moment, once his brain processed the movement, anxiety flipping his brain into overdrive.

"Upper respiratory infection, probably. Have you been coughing?" Shoko asked, moving to get the reflex hammer.

Ed nodded.

"Thought so. I'm going to tap on your knees and elbows now, and you might kick me by accident. That's what's supposed to happen, so it's okay."

Ed nodded again, anxiety still churning throughout his mind.

The doctor felt his right leg, found his kneecap, and thwapped it with his hammer.

His leg kicked out a bit, and he went to do the same to his left. Ed noticed too late to stop him, and the doctor hit the hammer against his automail knee. 

The resulting sound was weird. Metallic of course, but the resonance drew Ed's attention to it and blocked all else out. His leg had kicked out exactly the same way his right leg had, but he was too distracted to notice.

The doctor's eyebrows raised. "I'm impressed. That's some good quality automail," he said.

"It is," Ed agreed, raising his head to look at the doctor again. "But how could you tell?"

The doctor moved to his arms to check his elbows' reflexes, and the automail moved in the same way as his flesh arm.

The doctor smiled. "The only mechanics who think to not only add those reflexes but also calibrate them to be even with the other reflexes take their time and make superbly high-quality work. They're aware of the human body in ways many are not, and they replicate many fine details most wouldn't even consider."

Ed nodded enthusiastically. "She's the best automail mechanic, and getting better all the time," he said, his thoughts drifting to the medical journals Winry had published articles in.

"What's it made of?" the doctor asked. "I just need the base materials or how much they weigh without being attached; I don't need any proprietary formulae or anything."

Ed grimaced. "Uh… Chrome and steel mostly. There's plenty of copper and rubber of course, inside, and there's some nickel in the alloy too, though not much. Also a bit of aluminium in the frame."

The doctor nodded and scratched some numbers down on the clipboard, mumbling to himself.

"You need to eat more," the doctor said after a few moments. "You're underweight and I'm concerned about that. I'm going to press on your stomach now, if you'll please lay down."

And, finally, the exam was over and they could move onto more pressing issues.

"Alright, Edward, what kind of symptoms are you experiencing?"

Ed let out a bark of laughter and handed the doctor a folded sheet of paper with all his symptoms in order of severity and frequency.

The doctor read over it while Ed stared at the unevenly painted wall behind him. Shoko grimaced, looking back and forth between the page and his clipboard.

He set the page and notes down. "I want to run some tests. Bloodwork and xrays at the very least. I'd like some ultrasounds around your ports and your kidneys, too."

Ed nodded slowly as he processed the words. "Doc, I'm only in town today; I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

"Of course you are," the doctor grumbled. "Okay, no ultrasounds then. I don't suppose I could feel the area around your ports, at least?"

Ed flinched away from the doctor, flailing as he nearly fell off the table. "What could it possibly tell you?" he asked suspiciously, vision narrowing to only the doctor.

The doctor barely even flinched at Edward's response. He replied, "It could tell me how much muscle tension there is, if they're swollen or even injured, what could be causing your pain there, that kind of thing. I'll feel the same area on your flesh limbs so I can compare the two."

Ed slumped and sat in the middle of the table again. "Go ahead."

The doctor nodded and gently felt around his shoulder port, the muscles it cut into, whatever else was there to be noticed, without touching the arm itself once.

Then he began to almost massage the muscles around it, and Ed hissed in pain and yanked away from the offending hands.

Doctor Shoko just moved to his flesh shoulder and did the same movements, then moved his hands to hover over his leg.

"Alright, Ed, where on your leg is your port?" he asked, gesturing down the length of Ed's automail leg.

"What, you don't want to feel me up, Doctor?" Ed said with a faux-flirty smirk as he drew an invisible line with his finger where metal met flesh on his thigh. 

Shoko snorted, beginning the same prodding and testing of his leg's port and the muscles nearby. "Not particularly, no."

There was silence as Ed let himself be examined, though he flinched fiercely and hissed when the doctor went to almost-massage his thigh muscles.

Again, Shoko said nothing, just moved onto his other thigh.

Once he sat comfortably in his chair, Ed sat up. "So?"

The doctor shrugged. "Without any testing, I'm not sure. Your joints are inflamed and a bit swollen, everywhere that I touched, and the muscles around your ports are fiercely upset."

Doctor Shoko turned to grab a prescription pad off the desk. "I'm prescribing you a muscle relaxant and a pain killer. As well as a nausea medication and antibiotic for the infection." He took a few moments to write the prescriptions out.

"Uh, Doc, hang on a sec," Ed said quietly, shifting uneasily. "My last name isn't really Harnet. It's Elric."

The doctor nodded and tore the prescriptions he'd completed up.

"Ah, I need some more family history, then. I suppose you're not actually Izumi's family?" he asked as he re-wrote the prescriptions.

"Not by blood, no," Ed started, "but she did send me here. My, uh… my mom, she died when I was real young. She had the same thing I do."

The doctor nodded again and handed the prescriptions to Ed. "Do you know what she had?" he asked.

When Ed shook his head, he asked, "Did she die of the illness?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah."

The doctor didn't respond, appearing to wait for Ed to continue. Once he realised, he jolted forward.

"Right, uh, Granny Pinako, she said that Mom lived for about two years after the symptoms I have now set in. So. I have some time."

Both of the doctor's eyebrows raised. "Pinako Rockbell?"

Ed nodded. "You know her?"

"Know her?" Shoko asked, laughing. "Not  _ really _ . I've heard a lot about her, though, and I've called to ask questions about amputees and automail quite a few times. She's the only automail engineer I have even  _ heard _ of that answers questions without payment or proof of identification."

Ed grinned. "Yeah, she's the best."

"So she made your automail?"

Ed's smile stretched wider, eyes lighting up. "Nope! Her granddaughter did. None better than her."

The doctor's smile grew to match Ed's.

Ed read through the prescriptions and asked, "Will any of the meds put me to sleep or make me unable to defend myself?"

"I don't know," the doctor began, as his face shifted back into its neutral mask, "but I know both the pain medication and the muscle relaxant can cause drowsiness and diminished fine motor control and response time."

Edward grimaced. "I lead a dangerous lifestyle and can't let my guard down like that."

The doctor sighed. "It's up to you whether you even fill the prescription, Mr. Elric, let alone take it." His eyes flicked over to the clock, then back to Ed.

"I have another appointment shortly, so I need to go prepare for that. Let me walk you to the blood lab."

The blood lab was around the corner from the hall the appointment was held in, and the doctor gave him a form to fill out as he filled out some of his own, listing everything he wanted tested in Ed's blood and via x-ray.

Ed was given a form to give to the radiologist before the doctor handed another to the phlebotomist on the other side of the room. 

The doctor took his leave, then, and it was just him and the wannabe vampire.

Once Edward had painstakingly filled out the paperwork, he handed it to the woman who got up and read through it before leading him to a chair with wide arms.

Ed was totally fine the whole time she - Andrea Madkin, according to her nametag - prepped everything, including the crook of his elbow, until she uncapped the needle.

Then he flinched and his vision narrowed to a small radius. He clenched his muscles in an effort to remain in the seat.

It wasn't until several minutes later, when he heard the phlebotomist babbling about some gerbil she was watching for the week, that he regained his apparently lost hearing.

Regardless, he used the woman's voice as an anchor as he steadied himself.

"What are you talking about?" Ed asked after a minute, looking over to her with squinted eyes. The needle wasn't anywhere in his sight. His shoulders fell from his ears as he slowly relaxed. He noticed she had a nose stud, a little green sparkle catching the light and glittering occasionally.

Andrea smiled. "That's what I said! But  _ nooo _ , I can't just let a gerbil be  _ all alone _ for a week. And she  _ knew _ that!"

She took a deep breath.

"Okay. What can I do to make you feel more comfortable?" she asked, tone vastly more serious. "Some people prefer to watch, some prefer to close their eyes, some people need to stand up, others need to lay down. Some people need silence, others need me to chat or put music on."

Ed grimaced. "Strap my arm and chest down. And talk about something unrelated. And don't touch anyplace on my arm. I'll. Probably freak the fuck out. But this needs to be done."

Andrea grimaced as well, clearly uncomfortable. "I won't tie you down."

Ed sighed and pulled his belt out of its loops and transmuted it into two thinner, shorter straps. He belted his chest to the seat he was in, then awkwardly strapped his left arm to the chair.

"I will freak the fuck out," he repeated. "I am dying and need to figure out how to treat the symptoms of whatever it is I have so I can take care of my baby brother. Normally I'd be long gone at even the possibility of needles. But I need to do this. I won't freak out at the straps. It'll just be the needle. And I, uh, might have a flashback. I need you to keep going if I do. I'm so sorry please go ahead now," Ed said quickly, voice shaking and growing louder. He panted and looked as far away from his arm as he could.

"’Kay," she said, sounding far away.

Ed focused on his breathing. He felt the cold of the alcohol again, then the pinch. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, breathing through his mouth and trying to think of anything other than the needle in his arm. He couldn't.

And then it was over, and the phlebotomist was talking to him. He opened his eyes and couldn't figure out what she was saying, but once she saw he was watching, he watched her undo the straps with a disgusted look before handing him a juice box.

When his ears finally tuned back in, she was rambling on about the gerbil again. Ed sighed deeply and felt his entire body try to melt into the chair.

It was over.

"You can take the bandage off your arm in an hour," she said, gathering the vials of his blood.

Ed nodded.

"You said here that the phone number you gave us isn't yours. Whose is it?"

"My teacher, Izumi Curtis."

There was a flash of an unidentifiable emotion across Andrea's face before she nodded. "And you'll be there when we call with your results?"

"No," Edward said, slowly standing up, "but you can tell Izumi the results. She'll let me know what they are when I am able to call her next."

Andrea looked uncomfortable at his response and busied herself putting the vials someplace just out of sight. She turned completely away from him for a moment to flip through something on the table before returning to her desk to scribble something down on his form.

"Alright," she said eventually, "I can do that. The radiologist is just next door – it'll be super quick besides the forms. Can you find your way out alright?"

Edward nodded and began walking away. "Thank you," he said, hightailing it out of there.

The phlebotomist was right - the radiologist really was just next door. He glanced at the xray order form as he walked to the front desk and grimaced as he caught sight of the number of xrays ordered: neck, spine, shoulders, hips, lungs, and his entire flesh arm.

The radiologist was so efficient that despite the absurd number of xrays he needed, he was only there for an hour. And that  _ included _ the time it took for him to complete the forms. 

Which left him with about an hour before Al would be coming to wake him up, meaning that he could actually get some rest before dinner.

Good. He was fucking exhausted.

He flopped into bed and promptly fell asleep on his stomach, face directly down into the pillow, boots dirtying the comforter.

He was so deeply asleep that when Al came in with a bag of food for Ed, he didn't even stir. Not even when Al opened the container next to Ed so he could smell it.

Al just let him sleep, because Ed definitely needed it. He could always eat tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you're interested, you can find me on [tumblr](ryanthedemiboy.tumblr.com).
> 
> Please let me know what you think of the fic, the series, or anything else! Thanks again! :D


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